As we speed through October on our way towards Halloween we’ve added another ten tracks to our Discovery playlist on Spotify and Apple Music, including one single we exclusively premiered earlier in the week.
Loose Content a three piece alt-rock band from the Byron Bay hinterland is our Track of the Week with their brand new single “Where The Hollow People Sleep”. The track takes its inspiration from a delightfully gothic and villainous monologue written by frontwoman and bassist MiLLa during a school project on the Romantics. Produced by Nick DiDia, the track vacillates between raucous rock (replete with crowd pleasing shout chorus) and haunting almost spoken word interludes.
It maybe shouldn’t work, but “Where The Hollow People Sleep” is a lot of fun. Exploring themes of love, guilt, and the dark recesses of the human psyche it’s waiting to be unpacked by budding literature students and lyric lovers. Come for the story, stay for the rousing chorus!
We’ve long been fans of Press Club, with their blistering kick-arse punk rock. They are on top form with “Champagne & Nikes”, an urgent and energetic pastiche of conflicting images – “Champagne, Nikes, old tatts, my god / Cold sweat, crew cut, skinhead, come on “. They are currently tearing up the stage supporting Grinspoon on a wild 45-date tour of Australia. Head here for more dates and catch them if you can.
“Inaction” is the furious new single from Glasgow punk rockers Declan Welsh & The Decadent West. Long time readers will know we’ve featured the band before, and this new single really captures the energy of the band’s first record (the excellent Cheaply Bought, Expensively Sold). The band have made no secret of their politics or their social conscious, so the subject matter of “Inaction” should come as no surprise. It’s a response to the continued inaction in the face of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. And, the result is unsurprisingly emotional, angry with Welsh’s frustration palpable. One to be played live and up loud!
“I Worry” from Aussie folk-singer Jack Carty is his first release of 2024 and is a solid reminder of what we love so much about this talented home-grown talent. It has some classic Neil Young vibes, as Jack sings of anxiety, pondering whether he is worrying his life away. Hopefully it’s not too long before we hear more from Jack.
It’s no secret we love a bit of dream pop here at the AU, so we of course had to feature the latest single from Sydney band Grids & Dots – “Movies at your house”. Atmospheric and deliberately unhurried in its delivery, the single explores themes of nostalgia and missing friendships, and features some beautiful vocals, introspective lyricism and just some lush soundscapes. If you’re around next week the band will be launching the single at Lazy Thinking Record Bar in Dulwich Hill on Friday 18th of October – so head along.
Thomas Headon has been keeping quiet in London this year, after a solid few years building up a passionate following, particularly in the UK. He is back with his first track of 2024, “Panic!”, a song that gives some clues as to his time away. “Panic is a song I’ve had sitting around for a while and always had an emotional connection to, yet never felt right to release. It’s basically this big mess of anxiety and overwhelming stress that I was feeling, with it now being the perfect way to sum up how much I’ve been operating on autopilot for a while and ignoring the clear signs my brain was telling me to stop. I worked with Stephen Barnes on this song and it feels like the best way to begin again”. He is a wildly talented artist, and it’s great that he is back with new material. Thomas has a brilliant way with words, and creates pop music that strongly resonates with his young audience.
This week singer-songwriter Nadia Reid has announced her fourth album, Enter Now Brightness, will be released on February 7th on her new label Chrysalis Records. The announcement also came with the release of the beautiful new single “Baby Bright”. The song is inspired by Reid’s first daughter, who she was pregnant with during the album’s recording. Largely stripped back, with gentle piano and horns, “Baby Bright” is undeniably emotive and delivered with such warmth and soul. Beautiful!
“Rodeo Star” from Venice Qin is every so catchy, and just a little bit edgy (ok, a lot)! It’s fun, flirty and glorious. About the track, Venice writes: “‘… is all about the surge of energy I feel when that perfect, super c**ty song comes on at a house party. It’s me, moving my hips, making eyes at all the hot, sexy people around, totally caught up in the moment. This track celebrates confidence and the joy of exploring your sexuality, all wrapped up in the drop-a** Y2K vibe. It’s about letting loose, embracing the playful side of life and not being afraid to show who you really are.”.
Also added to the playlist this week is “A Little Love” the new single from Shakuhachi on the Minipops – a side project of composer and illustrator Pavel Grachev.
Finally, we’ve added “Holy Renascence” which we premiered earlier in the week from Sydney’s Lolita Mae.
Catch all the new music updated every Friday on Apple Music:
and on Spotify:
Here’s the complete list of new additions this week:
Loose Content “Where The Hollow People Sleep”
Press Club “Champagne & Nikes”
Declan Welsh and the Decadent West “Inaction”
Jack Carty “I Worry”
Grids and Dots “Movies At Your House”
Thomas Headon “Panic!”
Nadia Reid “Baby Bright”
Venice Qin “Rodeo Star”
Shakuhachi on the Minipops “A Little Love”
Lolita Mae “Holy Renascence” [Exclusive Single Premiere]
